Lacrosse Headline

Saturday March 24, 2012Rookies Lead Gators Past Buckeyes, 10-8, For First ALC Victory of 2012

Gator
freshmen Nora Barry (Marcellus, N.Y.)
and Shannon Gilroy (Huntingdon,
N.Y.) combined for seven points this afternoon to help lead Florida past Ohio
State, 10-8, in the 2012 American Lacrosse Conference opener. Florida has now
won its past six conference games, going undefeated in ALC play since the start
of 2011. The win lifts UF to 10-2 (1-0 ALC), while OSU drops to 7-2 (0-1 ALC).

On the
defensive end, Mikey Meagher (Liverpool,
N.Y.) earned her seventh win of the season, recording seven saves in the
complete game while tallying a career-high and team-season-high six ground
balls. Jamie Reeg (Atlantis,
Fla.) snagged four ground balls and caused two turnovers, and Dashiell added
three more ground balls.

In the
midfield, Gilroy led the Gators with five draw controls, and Cullen tied her
career high with three.

Kirsten
Donahue was tops on the Buckeyes with four goals in the game, and Jackie
Cifarelli recorded two goals and two assists. Freshman Tori DeScenza made nine
saves in the complete game and added a team-high five ground balls.

Jackie
Cifarelli opened the scoring for the Buckeyes at 26:30, scoring a wraparound
goal from the left side. Caroline Chesterman responded for the Gators, working
a spin move from behind the net at 21:16 to tie the score at one.

Less than a
minute later, Ashley Bruns gave the Gators their first lead, netting a bouncer
from the left side.

On the
Gators’ next possession, Bruns looked for her second goal of the afternoon, but
her shot was saved by DeScenza. The ball ricocheted off DeScenza’s stick
outside the 8-meter arc where Nora Barry was ready for the rebound. Barry fired
across to Shannon Gilroy up top, who drove through a triple team and laced in
her first-ever ALC goal to put UF up, 3-1.

The Buckeyes
kept the pressure on, and just under two minutes later, Kirsten Donahue put one
in the top corner of the net, glancing off the crossbar and just barely
crossing the plane to cut the Gators’ lead in half. Katie Chase then tied the
game on a free-position goal at 14:18, knotting the score at three.

A foul on
Kelsey Heine just outside the arc gave Cullen an open opportunity out front.
Cullen flipped to Barry on the restart whistle, who took one step and laced in
her first career conference goal to regain the Gators’ lead, 4-3, at 10:37,
which would become the final goal of the half.

After a
15-minute scoring drought, Barry found the back of the net for a second time,
netting a free-position goal at 25:01 in the second half. Alayna Markwordt
found Kirsten Donahue just over two minutes later to cut UF’s lead back to one,
but Barry responded with back-to-back goals to put Florida out in front, 7-4.

Ashley Bruns
went to the bench at 15:56 with a yellow card, and Donahue took advantage
within nine seconds, scoring a man-up goal.

Shannon
Gilroy then shot in her second of the day to regain the Gators’ three-goal
lead, 8-5.

Jackie
Cifarelli found Donahue again at 9:35, but a free-position goal by Gabi Wiegand
put the Gators back up three, and a Cullen-to-Dashiell score at 6:54 gave
Florida its largest lead of the game, ahead 10-6.

The Buckeyes
were not ready to call it a day yet, as Donahue and Cifarelli each mustered a
tally over the next two minutes, but the Gators maintained possession through
the majority of the final four minutes to earn their sixth-straight ALC victory
by a final score of 10-8.

The Gators
return home on Wednesday night to host Fresno State in their final
non-conference matchup of the season. Opening draw is set for 6:30 p.m.